Wednesday, June 8, 2011

'Creative Nonfiction' Seeks True Crime Stories

Creative Nonfiction magazine is seeking new essays about true crime – detailed reports of premeditation, follow-through and aftermath – whether taken from police blotters or the news, passed down as small-town legend or family lore, or committed in cold blood.

For the Spring 2012 issue (#45), the magazine's editors are looking for “true stories of petty theft, identity theft, embezzlement or first-degree murder; of jaywalking, selling (or maybe buying) weed or assault; of crimes and punishments and unsolved mysteries. Think The Devil in the White City (Larson), In Cold Blood (Capote) and Iphegenia in Forest Hills (Malcolm); or Half a Life (Strauss), Lucky (Sebold) and The Night of the Gun (Carr). If it’s against the law and someone – maybe even you – did it anyway, we want to know all about it.”

CNF is in search of “well-written prose, rich with detail and a distinctive voice.” Essays can be serious, humorous or somewhere in between. The Best Essay will receive a $1,000 award.

The submission guidelines:Essays must be unpublished.Length: 4,000 words maximum.Postmarked by Sept. 30, 2011.Clearly mark “True Crime” on the essay and on the outside of the envelope.

There is a $20 reading fee for each submission. For $25, submitters in the United States can pay the reading fee for a single submission and receive a four-issue subscription to Creative Nonfiction magazine.

Submissions from outside the U.S. are welcome, but not eligible for the reading fee/subscription discount due to shipping costs.

Send your manuscript, a cover letter with complete contact information including the title of the essay, word count, self-addressed stamped envelope and payment to: